(Un)bated breath

Since no one really wants to read about my psychological issues regarding house-hunting (seriously, who knew it could be this traumatizing, even when things go well?), we'll skip forthwith to the meatier portion of the blog: i.e., what we've been up to.

You already know about our quick trip to Cedar City.

Tuesday, Evelyn had her 12 month appointment at the doctors, where we learned that she hasn't grown much in the last 3 months (less than an inch, and less than a pound), so she has now dropped down to the 50th percentile for height and weight (although, in true Collings fashion, her head remains solidly in the 95th percentile). The doctor didn't seem much concerned about this, as she's clearly not wasting away, but I can't help worrying that it is somehow my fault.

Then of course, she came down with a mild fever after all her vaccinations, so we kept close to home for a day or two.

(Incidentally, this isn't the most flattering picture, but I do like that you can see all four of her teeth. And no, the "dent" part of "incidentally" wasn't deliberate.)

On Friday, we ventured out again, this time to Saratoga Springs to visit a friend of mine who just had a baby, born 4.5 weeks early (echoes of Evelyn last year). Only her baby also required immediate surgery (her esophagus didn't connect--the top part dead-ended and the bottom part had attached to the trachea. Luckily, the corrective surgery seems to have gone well and she has no other birth defects). She's now in Primary Children's hospital. Since I still have a fairly vivid memory of what it was like to have a preemie in the hospital, I wanted to do what little I could to help out: in this case, donating all of Evelyn's preemie clothes. My friend seemed to appreciate it, since, like me, she was woefully unprepared for the early advent of her baby (this was her first, and the baby came before her family and friends baby showers).

Afterward, we stopped at the Discovery Park in Pleasant Grove (I'd heard about it, but never been there) and it was *amazing.* I wish I'd discovered it sooner--it's built along the same lines as the Discovery Park in Cedar City, but, if anything, even bigger. Andrew loved it, but we think it would have been even more fun with friends or cousins (a not so subtle invitation for those of you readers who fall into this category).

Saturday, as always, was a busy day. I left the house before 7 to try going to some yard sales--with reminiscent echoes of successful yard saling in State College, I even mapped out a route before I left. While I did find a few things (a Little Tikes Cozy Coupe for $1--old and sun faded, but still functional), it was pretty disappointing. I had heard that yard saling in Utah was generally not worth it, but this confirmation was still a let down.

After I got home, Dan and I swapped kids and he went to work to make up for Monday's hookey. I took the kids to the Library's Book Fair and Book Sale. We came home with a bag of cheap books and a couple of free ones (courtesy of the book fair). We tried going to some of the booths at the Fair, but Andrew didn't exactly know what was going on. He did seem to enjoy the puppet shows. And--extra bonus--I ran into Mrs. Brown, my favorite English teacher from high school. It was kind of nice to be able to tell her that I have a PhD in English--especially since she had at least something to do with my fondness for the subject. I also saw Jessica Day George (one of several fantasy and YA authors invited to the Book Fair, but I didn't think Andrew would be interested in the discussion on writing fantasy for young readers that was going on in a nearby room, so I didn't even bother trying to get into the crowded space). I'm now pretty sure that I knew her somehow at BYU (we were English majors there at the same time, and she looks really familiar--and not just because she's now sort of famous), but I didn't really get a chance to ask her about that.

Overall, I think the fair was a good experience, but it certainly ended unfortunately. Some little kid pulled the fire alarm, and, after trying to ignore it for a while (the library workers announced that it wasn't a real alarm, and they were working on getting it turned off), Andrew finally started crying that his ears hurt, so we left. But we did have a salutary little discussion on why it's not good to pull the fire alarm (because then other little kids ears might get hurt--Andrew's observation, not mine).

That afternoon, we went up to Sarah's, to a carnival put on by her stake. It was pretty fun for the kids--they had lots of little games, a bounce house, snow cones, etc.--and we got free food out of it, so I thought it was a fair trade for the drive. Dan's customary grumpiness at large group events came out in force (he refused to get anything to eat, although he did help Andrew with his dinner), so we left soon after dinner to help Sarah set up the Primary room for church today. And then drove home with two tired but (I think) happy kids.

Today was stake conference. Since it didn't start until two and we were trying to keep Andrew entertained, I pulled out some finger paints. Andrew loved them, although I did end up with footprints on the kitchen floor (luckily, the paint was washable).

I wish I could say the same for stake conference. The speakers, what little I heard of them, were quite good, but keeping a napless three-year-old confined and quiet for two hours nearly defeated Dan and I combined. Well, we may actually have been able to deal with just Andrew, but the meeting was in the old Provo Tabernacle, which, while beautiful, is not exactly well ventilated. The increasing heat was probably the final undoing factor. Andrew's response to the closing prayer pretty much sums up our experience: "It's over! Hooray!"